MLT acquiring $1.4b worth of properties in China, Vietnam, Japan

Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) is acquiring a portfolio of 17 Grade-A logistics assets with an average age of 1.6 years in China, Vietnam and Japan for a combined total value of $1.4 billion.

In a bourse filing yesterday, the manager said the proposed acquisition of 13 properties located in China, through subsidiaries of Mapletree Investments and a subsidiary of Itochu Corporation, amounts to $870 million.

The acquisition of the properties in Vietnam, through a Mapletree Investments subsidiary, is $129.9 million, it said.

Separately, the manager also announced the proposed acquisition of an effective 97 per cent in the trust beneficial interest of Kuwana Logistics Centre located in Japan. The acquisition is from an unrelated third-party vendor at an agreed property value of $416.3 million.

The remaining 3 per cent effective interest in the property will be held by Mapletree Investments Japan Kabushiki Kaisha, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of MLT.

The 13 new assets in China will be acquired for 1.15 billion yuan (S$246 million) in cash, while the remaining amount will be inter-company loans worth 1.77 billion yuan that MLT will pay through cash and new units, as well as 1.24 billion yuan in bank loans.

For the properties in Vietnam, U$14.4 million (S$19.7 million) will be satisfied in cash, while the rest will be an undertaking of inter-company loans.

Meanwhile, the new Japanese property, which comes at a discount of about 1.7 per cent to the independent valuation, will be paid for fully in cash.

The trust yesterday proposed an equity fund raising of new units in MLT to raise gross proceeds of about $700 million.

Some $675.5 million of the amount will be used to fund the acquisitions, while $24.5 million will be used to pay for fees and expenses in connection with the acquisitions and equity fund raising.

DBS Bank, HSBC Singapore and OCBC Bank are the joint global coordinators and bookrunners for the fundraising.

The China acquisitions will deepen MLT's presence in the region, which will now see 43 assets in 29 cities.

Ms Ng Kiat, chief executive of the manager, said the acquisitions in China and Vietnam will expand MLT's network connectivity in those large, growing consumer markets.

She added that the acquisition in Japan will scale up MLT's presence in Greater Nagoya, an attractive logistics market strategically located between Greater Tokyo and Greater Osaka.

"The pandemic has highlighted the importance of logistics and placed a greater emphasis on supply chain resiliency, fuelling demand for modern logistics space," Ms Ng said.

The trust requested a trading halt yesterday morning. Units of MLT closed one cent, or 0.5 per cent, higher at $1.95 on Monday.

THE BUSINESS TIMES